Under substitute amendments signed by Alexander, USF would get some money back

Have Sens. Jim Norman and JD Alexander come to a truce?

A day after Norman filed three amendments that would reduce the University of South Florida's total budget cut by a total of $55 million, the Tampa Republican has signed off with Alexander on two substitute amendments that would give USF back a fraction of that money.

Still not addressed: the conforming bill slipped into the budget that would immediately split USF's Polytechnic campus into the 12th university.

Norman's original amendments would have given USF back $6 million for its pharmacy school, $16 million to cover USF Poly faculty and staff the main university would need to absorb in a split and about $33 million extra that would make the cut to USF more comparable to similar institutions.

These two substitute amendments, signed by Norman, Alexander and Sen. Evelyn Lynn, would instead give USF $3 million for its pharmacy school and $10 million to absorb faculty and staff. There is no substitute for Norman's third amendment, reducing USF's total cut.